Wednesday, 25 March 2015

One of the most common questions I get asked is if hypnosis really works.Ben* sat down in my comfortable chair. He told me how desperately he wanted to stop smoking. He said that he had tried everything from willpower through pills and even acupuncture. Hypnosis was his last option. He was desperate.After we spoke a little bit about his habit and how to change it, I guided him into the hypnotic process. I gave him instructions for relaxation and saw that he was following my suggestions. It wasn't long before Ben started snoring lightly, as if he was asleep.I however knew that he was not asleep, this is one of the most common misconceptions that people have about hypnosis. The fact that he was snoring a bit only meant his throat as really relaxed. I asked him a questions and instructed him to move a finger if he was ready to proceed. For a few moments nothing happened, and then the finger moved. Ben was in a deep hypnotic trance.Hypnosis is not sleep. It is in fact a combination of deep relaxation and very sharp concentration.I continued with the session and retrained Ben's subconscious mind to believe that he was now a natural non-smoker. It took about forty minutes to go through the hypnotic part of the session and when he emerged at the end, he opened his eyes and the first words out of his mouth was: "I am now a natural non-smoker!"Almost two years later I received an email from Ben, explaining what happened when he left the session. He told me that he has completely lost the urge to smoke, very rarely thinks about smoking and found it very easy to replace the bad habit with new, healthy habits. He thanked me for changing his life and has since recommended my services to quite a number of his friends and work colleagues.Can you be hypnotised? Most people think they can't. They are often suspicious that being hypnotised will label them as being weak-willed, naive or stupid, or are afraid that they will lose control. In fact modern research shows that in order to be hypnotised you need to be intelligent, be able to focus and concentrate. It is not an all-or nothing phenomenon, but rather a process. Most people can be hypnotised to some degree - the only question is how far.A hypnotic trance is not therapeutic in and of itself. It is the specific suggestions and imagery given to a client in trance that can make a big on their future behaviour. By rehearsing future behaviour, a client lays the groundwork for powerful change in their future actions. A smoker for instance might be told that he or she will completely forget about smoking, or that smoking will smell and taste horrible, or that they will have an urge to break cigarettes in two. They will have an opportunity to imagine themselves in the future as a non-smoker, rather using new and healthy habits.Research over the fast twenty years has proven that hypnotic techniques are safe and effective. And while most people associate hypnosis with stopping smoking or weight loss, there are in fact literally thousand of issues and problems that hypnosis can successfully address. Controlling headaches, giving painless birth, help with study and concentration, relieving phobias and fears and even being used as anesthesia - without medicine or side effects - are just some of the things hypnosis can effectively be used for.

More and more people are starting to reognise the value of this technique and using it. So if anybody asks me if hypnosis really works, I do not answer with a loud "Yes!" just because I have read the research, I answer with a loud "Yes!" because I see it working on a daily basis in my practice. Ben and hundreds of other people have successfully stopped smoking, while thousands of others have found relief for a number of issues and problems.Are you thinking about using hypnosis to overcome longstanding problems? Then please make contact so we can discuss it in more detail.Because it is true: Hypnosis Works!*Not his real name